The Hearts of Time
by Animefangirl365
Summary: Madara is dead. The war is over. The cycle is broken. But what is the price? Naruto and Sasuke discover that all their comrades have fallen, and they are the only ones left. They travel back to fix what went wrong, but what else will they find? Manga Spoilers with no explanation! Read at your own risk!
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Ohayo! So, I'm doing another over-done theme; time-travel. However, I hope this will be an original outcome of it! (I would have NO idea; there are too many time travel fanfics that it would take me a year to read them all! Maybe more!) So, on with it! There is a hint in the cover photo…. Intuitive readers, your task will be to interpret the picture to predict the main storyline! I want to see if there's anyone else with my line of thinking! I say this, because the inspiration for this story came from a photo I saw on Facebook; aka the cover photo. SO, guess away! I hope you enjoy! Oh, warning, my fight scenes suck. Sorry about that. But the rest of it is better… I hope… *gulp***

As the two former rivals faced off against Madara, they began to predict his actions; it became easier to dodge and counter each wave of attacks.

Then, Naruto had an idea. "Hey Sasuke, remember that mission we went on where those bandits stole the golden statue?" Sasuke retorted, "What about it?"

"Well, do you remember why that mission succeeded in the end?" Sasuke thought for a moment, and then it hit him. "Ah! That's it!" and with that, they quickly worked together to fight their way closer to Madara. Suddenly, said villain was immobile. When the trio of fighters investigated the cause, they found that half of the Nara clan, including Shikamaru, had shown up on the battlefield and restrained the resurrected Uchiha.

"Let go of me!" he yelled. "Argh… Zetsu, get them!" but when Madara called the former Akatsuki member's attention, Hinata snuck up behind him dealt a chakra-infused blow, separating him from Obito. Once he was free, Sakura charged and quickly incapacitated the manifestation of Madara's darkness. Madara gritted his teeth and said, "Let's see you dodge this one!" and he began creating a bubble of chakra around himself.

Within seconds, the bubble expanded out like a dome, sweeping the Naras off their feet and breaking the jutsu. Naruto and Sasuke, however, managed to stay standing, Asura and Indra's reincarnated power adding to their strength.

They continued to dodge wave after wave of the same attack, getting closer to Madara each time. They finally reached him, and dealt a well coordinated **Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero**, tearing a hole through Madara's chest, and destroying all his vital organs, killing him immediately.

After making sure he was truly dead, Naruto said, "His Rinnegan are too powerful to be left in this world. Even if we put them under every protection that the Five Nations have to offer, one corrupt leader could make it futile."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Even though I had to admit it, for the second time in an hour, I agree with you. And with that, he used his **Blaze Release: Suzanoo Kagutsuchi** to destroy Madara's body, along with the fabled Rinnegan eyes. Suddenly, they felt a presence in front of them and looked up, but instead of seeing the ravaged battlefield, they were back in the mindscape where they both met the Sage of Six Paths, and there stood the legendary man in front of them.

He was smiling from ear to ear and said, "I am very proud of you both. Not only did you overcome your differences to fight beside each other and listen to one another, but you also did what no other incarnations of my sons have done; you realized that the power you vanquished was too powerful to be left in existence."

"The others before you, including the First Hokage, the incarnation of Asura, tried to contain the power and keep it from the world. None of them realized that corrupt individuals would come into power and seize that which they tried to conceal. Because of that, when you agreed wholeheartedly on destroying Madara's Rinnegan, you broke the cycle, meaning that you two are the last incarnations of my children. While some would be sad, I find it a blessing."

"My sons fought over who would be my successor, and that quarrel has been passed down for generations. In each generation until this one, the incarnations of Asura and Indra have disagreed over what to do with the power they vanquished. In almost every case, Asura's incarnation wanted to conceal or destroy the power. Indra's incarnation wanted to use it for "peace", and because they were still quarrelling over inherited or vanquished power, the cycle was never broken. You boys' fates are more complicated than you realize. And remember what you have learned here. Farewell!" And they were back in the present.

Naruto and Sasuke's faces slowly lit up with smiles; they had done it! Madara was gone, and they had broken the cycle of Asura and Indra's hatred. Naruto released his cloak and began to bounce around and cheer at their success. Before he could help it, Sasuke also felt like dancing; so much had happened. He had seen the darkness of his path and abandoned it before it was too late; creating a new one that gave him a warmth that he hadn't felt since before his family died.

However, nothing comes without a price. After a minute, they finally broke out of their revelry long enough to realize that it was quiet; too quiet. They looked around and found, to their horror, all their fallen comrades. Naruto entered sage mode to search for signs of life, but he could find none; Madara's death had cost them the lives of everyone they had known. Naruto sank to his knees in despair, and Sasuke followed soon after.

Once again, they felt a presence, and when they looked up, they were in the center of the circle of the bijuus and their most recent jinchurikies. They simply hung their heads again. Matatabi said, "Young ones, we have held conference. We, inside our Jinchurikis, have heard of everything you two have been through and done. Kurama has given a most insightful speech on you, Naruto-kun. You have matured well beyond your years; and for that, we believe you are ready; you have a chance to fix what has gone wrong." Their heads jerked up, with a faint glimmer of hope in their tear-ladden eyes.

"We will send you to the past. You must find your younger selves, wherever they may be at the time we send you, and convince them, in any way necessary, about what they must change. I will tell you this though; your younger selves will be the only ones you can make any contact with, meaning you cannot fight their battles for them or get others to help you. The only exception is directly defending your own or each other's younger selves. Do you accept?" after a confirming glance at each other, they nodded and wiped their tears from their eyes.

Shukaku said, "Good luck! And I hope to fight you two again someday; you gave me quite a challenge last time." Gaara nodded and said, "I concur. It will be fun. Until next time, Naruto, Sasuke." Yugito said, "Well, take care, kiddos!" Isobu said, "I never met either of you until very recently, but from what I've heard, I know you can do this!" Yagura just nodded.

Son Goku growled out, "Thanks again for helping us and the old man, Naruto! You two, Sasuke. We owe you our thanks many time over." And Roshi said, "You have done much. Take care!" Kokuo and Han didn't have much to say, and neither did Saiken, but Utakata said, "Thank you for everything you did for me Naruto, both before and after I died. Maybe, if this goes perfectly, I might get to see Hotaru again."

Chomei just made a buzzing sound that Fuu interpreted as thanks, and then she gave her own. Gyuki said, "Sasuke, I'm still not too happy about that number you did on me a few months ago, but I know why now. We can have a rematch when you get back!" Killer Bee agreed and said, without rapping for once, "Take care now you two!" And Kurama bid his temporary farewell to his friends. Matatabi quickly said, "I almost forgot! Naruto, Sasuke, Kurama, if your younger selves die, so will you." And they nodded.

Kurama stepped into the center with the boys, the other bijuus closed their eyes, and their chakra began to surround the boys, mixing together to make a rainbow of chakras. After a few moments, they began to feel differently and the chakra disappeared. Kurama disappeared and was back inside his unsealed room.

True to Matatabi's word, the village guards, Kotetsu and Izumo, didn't notice them at all. They walked through the gates and decided to go to the Hokage's building first to see who was Hokage. And guaranteed, the Hokage would have a calendar that they could check the date with. When they hopped in the window, they found Hiruzen Sarutobi, grey hair and all, sitting at his desk with shadow clone doing the paper work for him. Both Naruto and Sasuke made a mental not of that trick so they could use it when they became Hokage considering that the paperwork was really the only thing Tsunade complained about.

They made their way to the calendar on the wall and observed that it was the day after Naruto's fight with Mitsuki, meaning they were graduating and meeting Kakashi. They made their way to the Academy and concealed their presence well enough that their younger selves wouldn't sense them. After Kakashi came, did the introductions, told them about the survival test, and left, they waited for Sakura to leave. She finally did, and Naruto and Sasuke approached their younger selves. **(A/N: I'm going to refer to the younger Naruto and Sasuke and what they say in bold, okay? That way it's easier to tell them apart.)**

**Naruto** and **Sasuke ** went into defensive positions, and the confusion set in after about 5 seconds. Sasuke decided to mess with his younger self a bit, and he said, "Damn… I knew I was a little slow on the uptake, but I didn't think I was _that_ slow! Right, Naruto?" **"How do you kno–"** said **Naruto.** Catching on, Naruto said, "I always said that those fangirls were fawning over nothing Sasuke!" **"What the h–"** "Uh-uh, what would your- I mean my- I mean our mother react to that kind of language **Sasuke**?" Now **they** were truly confused. Finally, Naruto and Sasuke couldn't take it anymore and busted into laughter. **Naruto** said, **"Now explain just what the hell is going on here!"**

Naruto said, "Well, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, number one hyperactive ninja, and this is my teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, who used to be the number one fangirl magnet. And we are from the future!"

"**Okay then, prove it."** said **Sasuke.** Sasuke turned to Naruto, who nodded. Sasuke covered his right eye, and activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Once both past selves had looked into Sasuke's left eye, they were trapped in a temporary genjustu. Then Sasuke turned his right eye on Naruto and brought their younger selves into Naruto's mindscape, where said jinchuriki was waiting. "Welcome to my mindscape! I know it's a sewer, but it's that way for a reason, and you're about to see why. Follow me!" and he led them to Kurama's room. Both **Naruto** and **Sasuke** paled considerably when they saw the nine tails. Naruto said, "Don't worry, Kurama won't hurt you, because he's my friend now!"

"**Ku-kurama?"** asked **Naruto**. Then, said bijuu spoke and said, "Hey kid, I went and forgot how small you were way back then! Haha! Nice to see you small and normal again. Well, I guess normal went out the window with me around, but you get the point."

**Naruto** and **Sasuke** both said, **"That's… the nine tails!"** Naruto said, "Yup! It was sealed inside me the day I was born by the Fourth Hokage. You see, bijuu can't be killed since they are made entirely of chakra. So, they have to be sealed! For reasons I will thoroughly explain in a bit, I was picked as the 'lucky' jinchuriki." **"Jinchuriki? And I believe you now, considering I just learned about …Kurama's" **he stumbled over the name **"existence inside me last night." Sasuke's** jaw dropped and said, **"Wait a second… so these guys are really from the future?!" Naruto** nodded and said, **"They would have to be. That's the only way they could know all this."**

Sasuke said, "Well done, you figured it out! You see, in our time, some things went _very_ wrong, and we've come back to fix it. You two are the only ones who can see or hear us, so we'll limit our contact with you to when you're alone so you don't look crazy talking to yourselves. **Sasuke** said, **"Do I ever beat Itachi?!"** Sasuke mumbled, "Knew that was coming…" he sighed and said, "Listen, I made a lot of dumb mistakes the first time around, and I'm here to make sure they aren't repeated. Focusing on killing Itachi was one of them. If I had waited to learn the full truth, the world I know might have turned out a little different. I will tell you the truth now, so that you won't repeat the mistakes that led to so much trouble."

"But first, you need to learn a little background. Naruto, you learned about everything that happened that night, right? Would you fill our younger selves in on it?" Naruto nodded, and then he closed his eyes for a moment. In about a second, four chairs popped into thin air, hovering just above the water. After they all sat down, Naruto began to tell **them** about everything leading up to and including that night of Obito's attack.

"You guys know about the First Hokage, right? Well, he had a bout with Kurama many years ago, and the kyuubi was eventually sealed inside his wife, Mito Uzumaki. They discovered that when a female Jinchuriki is giving birth, the seal weakens so far that it would take little to no effort to free the bijuu. Many years later, she was nearing the end of her lifetime, which was rather long due to her Uzumaki longevity. Anyway, so the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure was known for their sealing jutsus and astounding life force."

"So, when Mito was nearing the end of her life as an old woman, the obvious choice was to select another Uzumaki with a particularly exceptional life force to be her successor as Kurama's jinchuriki. So, a girl named Kushina was selected. She came to Konoha and became the second nine tails jinchuriki."

"She met and fell in love with a boy named Minato Namikaze, who would later become the Fourth Hokage. So, she became pregnant, and she was to tell no one about it. Just a few weeks before she was due to have her baby, they decided to induce labor under controlled conditions to prevent Kurama's escape."

"However, a masked man penetrated the barrier, killed the ANBU guards and midwives, and took the newborn baby hostage. While Minato was saving the baby, the masked man released Kurama from Kushina's body. Normally, a bijuu extraction kills the jinchuriki, but due to her life force, Kushina survived the process. Kurama was placed under the masked man's control, and he attacked the village. After Minato broke the masked man's control, he teleported the kyuubi away from the village."

"He realized that he needed to seal Kurama inside a person, a child would be the best option, but he wasn't selfish enough to ask another parent to subject their child to that fate. So, he used the Reaper Death Seal to seal half of Kurama's chakra inside the baby's body, and the other half inside himself so that he would take it with him to the next life once the Shinigami took his soul."

"Another point of reasoning was that his son was also an Uzumaki, who developed inside the body of the previous jinchuriki, making a near perfect match. But, before the seal was complete, Kurama attempted to kill the baby so that he wouldn't be sealed, but Kushina and Minato jumped in the way of his attack, sacrificing their lives so that Kurama could be sealed and their child would live. The seal was completed, and before Minato died, the former Third Hokage arrived and heard Minato's last wish that his son be seen as a hero for holding the kyuubi inside his body."

"As you most likely already pieced together, I was the boy born on that night, meaning that I'm the son of the former kyuubi jinchuriki and the Fourth Hokage."

**Naruto** said, **"So… the Fourth Hokage… was my father?!"** Naruto nodded and said,

"Yup! In my timeline, there is eventually an enemy that pushed me completely off the edge, and I nearly broke the seal on the kyuubi. However, suddenly, I was in this very room, with the sealed kyuubi, and the Fourth Hokage, my father. You see, before he died, he layered his and my mother's chakra into the seal so that at different times of need with the kyuubi, they would come to my aid. My father appeared to reestablish the seal when I got out of control, and my mother appeared to teach me _how_ to control it. She also has the same addiction to ramen, and she has the same speech pattern."

**Naruto's** eyes started to tear up; he was happy to finally know who his parents were and why he was chosen as the holder for the kyuubi. **Sasuke** said, **"I hate to ruin the moment, but why did the rest of us know none of this? I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just curious."**

Naruto nodded and said, "Within a few days after Kurama was sealed inside me, it became clear to the now reinstated Third Hokage that my dad's wish would not be honored, so he forbade everyone from speaking about it in hopes that I would have a chance at having friends. However, the adults found a way around that; they simply told their kids to stay away from me. A few parents were smarter, so they didn't even say "be careful around him." The kids who weren't ordered to keep a good distance from me were Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Kiba, but Ino stayed away simply 'cuz she didn't like me for always picking fights with Sasuke." At that, Sasuke nearly fell out of his chair laughing. **Sasuke** just looked on confusedly; how could he ever laugh like that again? Everything he cared about was taken from him in one night, so how would he ever laugh?!

Sasuke said, "It's okay, now it's my turn to tell you something." He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, then he said, "After the masked man's attack on the village, the Uchiha clan was blamed for it considering that it's said that the sharingan can control the bijuus, so everyone assumed that the Uchiha clan attacked the village and killed the Fourth Hokage. They were right that an Uchiha was behind it, but they were not connected to the clan since they were supposed to be dead." **Sasuke's** jaw dropped; how could someone do something like that?! "I'll get into the masked man's story later. Anyway, so the Uchiha clan began planning a coup de' tat since they were now outcasts from the village."

"Itachi, my older brother, was working as an ANBU and, putting duty before his clan, told the Hokage about the coup. Shisui, a man with astounding genjutsu skills, attempted to stop the coup. However, he was stopped by a man named Danzo Shimura, who took his right eye. Shisui barely escaped with his left eye, and he met with Itachi. He told Itachi what Danzo had done, and he gave Itachi his left eye to keep safe. Shisui then jumped off the cliff and into the river, committing suicide and awakening Itachi's mangekyo sharingan."

"Itachi then told the Hokage that diplomacy had failed due to Danzo's interference. The Hokage informed Danzo that the coup wasn't over, so Danzo ordered Itachi to kill his own clan, hence becoming an S-class missing-nin, and in turn an unreliable source against his treachery. Itachi went to the Hokage again and requested that I be allowed to live since I didn't know about the coup. The Hokage honored his wish, and Itachi regretfully completed his mission, and then he joined the Akatsuki as a spy for Konoha, as the Hokage allowed him to sneak in from time to time to check on me and give reports."

By this point, **Sasuke** was openly crying; he now knew the truth about why he had lost his precious brother. He hadn't cried for years, not since shortly after his family died, and the action felt strange to him now.

"**Well, it looks like we're both a little crooked, huh?"** said **Naruto.** A small smile twitched on the crying **Sasuke's** face; that statement was so true that you would have to search a long time to find its superior in the honesty department.

Naruto closed his eyes, focused, and a sink and towel on a rack appeared near the wall. He said, "Alright, Even if I didn't know you too terribly well as a kid, I still get the feeling you're not the type to cry. GO clean up your face, okay?" and he gave a reassuring smile at **Sasuke.** Said boy nodded, and he walked over to the wall to wash away the tear tracks.

**Naruto** said, **"Can we move on from the depressing stuff already? And we must've been here for hours already."** His future counterpart answered, "Alright, depressing stuff is out the window for now. And while it may seem like hours or even days in here, absolutely no time passes outside. In fact, it's almost similar to the Tsukuyomi, but it's not set to 72 hours."

**Sasuke** gaped at him and said, **How do you know about that?! I only barely overheard my father mention it once, it's top-secret!"** Naruto said, "It's not so secret if you experience it, now is it? I endured Itachi's Tsukuyomi once; it was awful. Sasuke here did too…. And the only thing I can say is that Itachi cares so much about Sasuke that he goes overboard trying to pretend he doesn't." and they all burst into laughter; even the future Sasuke, who remembered quite clearly that Tsunade had been his only hope of recovering.

Then, **Naruto's** stomach announced that he was hungry. Sasuke burst into laughter again and then said, "Hah, only _your_ stomach would act up in a place where you're not supposed to get hungry!" causing both future and past Narutos to grin sheepishly.

Then Naruto said, "Sasuke, I just remembered, Matatabi said that we can only interact with our younger counterparts, which probably means we don't need to eat! I mean seriously, how cou-" and his stomach rumbled, breaking him off mid-sentence. **Sasuke** said, **"Well, I reason that since you were sent here to help us avoid the mistakes you- er, we, made last time, that you'll probably be hanging out at our houses, meaning you can probably eat there."** After agreeing that **Sasuke** was right, they exited the mindscape, erasing the traces of their stay in Kurama's room.

When they made it back, sure enough it was the exact same second as when they entered the mindscape. Sasuke then said, "Well, since you guys are gonna be teammates and friends and we're all in this time-travelling thing together, why don't we get one big place for all of us?" which everyone agreed with.

They quickly found an apartment that would fit the four of them, and they rented it. Between the four of them, it didn't take long to move **Naruto** and **Sasuke's** stuff from their old apartments to the new one. They handed their old apartment keys back to the landlords, and settled in their stuff at the new place. Between **Naruto** and **Sasuke**, there was just enough stuff to comfortably fit the apartment.

Then **Naruto** said, **"Ah! We gotta get beds for the future guys!"** and with that, they went to the furniture store. After Naruto and Sasuke each pointed out a bed each, their younger counterparts bought the selections, which were rather cheap. Back at the apartment, they finished settling in the new beds. And then Sasuke had an idea. "What about we play some kind of board game? Or card game?" and they agreed on Uno. After finally deciding to keep score, they began the game.

They were sitting around the table in the clockwise order of Naruto, **Sasuke**, Sasuke, **Naruto.** Naruto shuffled and dealt the deck, and flipped the top card, revealing a red 7. **Sasuke** played a red skip, and **Naruto** played a red reverse. Sasuke put down a red skip, providing Naruto with a turn. After he played a blue skip, Sasuke dealt a blue reverse, taking it back to **Naruto**. The game went on like that, until **Naruto** won.

Suddenly, they registered a presence outside the door, and they heard a soft knock. When **Sasuke** got up and answered it, it was the Third Hokage. "May I come in?" He asked. Sasuke nodded and led him inside, closing the door behind him. When the Hokage entered the living room, he started for a few seconds at Naruto and Sasuke's locations, and they began to wonder if he could also see the time travelers, until they remembered that Naruto and Sasuke were still wielding their Uno cards in what would appear to be midair to the Hokage.

He chuckled and said, "Well, I'll be… Ino and Sakura were apparently following you, "**Sasuke**, and got curious when they saw **Naruto** enter the same apartment mere minutes later. They came to the window and freaked out when they saw two sets of cards moving and playing on their own. Now I see that they were not exaggerating. **Boys**, I need you to tell me exactly what is going on here because this might just be a very dangerous forbidden jutsu."

**Naruto** flailed his hands in front of his face and said, **"It's nothing like that old man!"** **Sasuke** said, **"You see, we have visitors from the future, and the people who sent them back made it so only Naruto and I could see, smell, or hear them since we are their past counterparts. In other words, a future Naruto and future me made their way back here to fix some things that went "wrong" last time."** then he mumbled, **"Though they haven't exactly elaborated on what "wrong" meant."**

The Hokage rubbed his beard thoughtfully and said, "My, that is a little unusual. Hmm.. uh… future Naruto, or Sasuke, would one of you please write on a piece of paper what exactly went wrong in your time? If I am going to help you all set things right, I need to know what I need to fix."

Naruto quickly grabbed a pen and paper and wrote, "No can do old man. The rules are rules. We can only fix what we did wrong in our time, so we can't tell you what you did wrong. Sorry about that!" Needless to say, the Hogake was dumbfounded. Not only did he see a pen start writing by itself, but Naruto also finally acknowledged a rule; a rather large one, at that.

He sighed and said, "Very well then. I will tell Ino and Sakura that there was nothing to worry about. Have a good day, all four of you." They bid their farewells, but the Hokage only heard two of them.

They decided to eat their dinner and then turn in for the night. After a quick meal of instant ramen, they settled into their beds. The future boys were in one room and the past boys were in another.

**Me: Ha.. longest. Chapter. I have. Ever. Written. Ugh… hope you liked it! Please guess what the picture means! I would love it like crazy if I ended up with a like-minded reader. So guess so I can know! Please? Thank you! **


	2. Author Note: GOMENASAI!

**Hello. Uhm so not only do I have writer's block, but I'm moving! Not only that, but because of certain circumstances, I might be living in a car for a while, meaning my internet access will be limited. So sorry! And then, by the time we get a house, school will have started again! Grr... Oh well, since I'm going back to public school this fall, my school time/free time will be more predictable, meaning that updates will be more regular, not 3 updates on week and then none for a month like I have been doing. So it will be a while before I can update again. I'm moving out of a negative environment and into a positive one, so hopefully when I do have the time to write I will be in the right mindset to overcome my writer's block on all three of my stories. Anyway, later my lovely readers!**


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